Sunday, May 18, 2014

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

5th Sunday
of Easter

In these Sundays following
Easter we get a glimpse in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles of
the very early history of the Church. Today we see that the Church was growing
and that disciples were being drawn from both the Jewish and gentile populations.
The Hellenists referred to were drawn from the large Greek community
living in Palestine.

We also see that from the
first the Apostles preached a "social gospel." We know that they
shared their goods and possessions and distributed them among the needy
converts. In today's reading we see that the duty of providing for the needs of
the poor was growing too large for the Apostles to handle themselves. And so,
they went to the Christian community and asked them to select "seven
reputable men" to take on the role of caring for the poor. Initially, they
were to "serve at table," to see that the food was distributed
equitably. Our word deacon originally meant to serve at table.

This reading is especially
important for all of us. We can broaden the expression, "serve at
table," and say simply that the community was being asked to nominate from
its ranks those whose role it would be "to serve." As Catholics we
often fall into the "they" syndrome. How often do we say, "they
ought to do something about it," or "why don't they deal with this or
that problem." It's as if we're apart from the Church and always looking
for someone else to do the work.

Last year we elected a new
pope and don't we literally expect him to work miracles? Won't we expect him to
wear himself out with travel and appearances all over the world just as his
predecessors did? Sometimes we'll complain that bishops and priests have all
the authority and some of us even want a piece of that authority. Yet there is
so much work to be done by all of us.

In today's gospel Jesus is
also telling us that we have to assume responsibility. In less than two weeks we will celebrate the feast of the Ascension and in today's reading Jesus
is preparing the disciples for the time when He will leave. Actually, today’s
reading from the fourteenth chapter of the gospel of St. John takes place at
the conclusion of the Last Supper. Jesus has just washed the feet of the
Apostles as a sign that they must do the same for those in their care. He has celebrated
the feast of Passover with them and instituted the Eucharist. After Judas had left
the room on his mission of betrayal, Jesus gives a kind of farewell address
to the remaining eleven.

Aware of his imminent
Passion, Death, and Resurrection, he tells them that he is going away. “Do not
let your hearts be troubled….Where I am going you know the way.” But Thomas
protests,

Master, we do not know where
you are going; How can we know the way?

This is the place where Jesus
utters the famous words, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
Throughout this discourse Jesus makes it clear that the way to our place in
Heaven is himself.

Very often we will hear
people today speak of a “personal” relationship with Jesus. But what is a
personal relationship with Jesus or how can we achieve it? Perhaps the best
method is to focus on the words and deeds of Jesus himself. His words and his
deeds are our example. He never cared for himself but cared for others, and
eventually gave his life for all of us. Right before the words in our gospel
today, Jesus told the Apostles assembled at the Last Supper,

A new commandment I give
you, that you love one another: that as I have loved you, you also love one
another.

The way to have a personal
relationship with Jesus is not to hide ourselves in our room and meditate but
to serve those who have been entrusted to our care. Indeed, we cannot have a
personal relationship with Jesus if we have failed to mend our own personal
affairs. Our religion is not separate from the rest of our lives. I recall a
young woman telling me that she spent so much time caring for her teenage
daughter that she did not have that much time to devote to prayer and bible
study. She did not realize that by devoting herself to the care of her daughter,
she was carrying out the Lord’s commandment. She thought of herself as somehow
deficient or unworthy but she truly had a personal relationship with the Lord.

In today’s second reading St.
Peter talks about the stone that the builder’s rejected that would become the
cornerstone of a great edifice. How many of us think of ourselves as unworthy
and incapable of doing the Lord’s work, while doing it day after day in our own
lives.

In the nineteenth century a
humble French priest was regarded as so inept by his superiors that he was
assigned one of the poorest and worst parishes in France. His career and
achievements were so remarkable that the Church would later canonize him as St.
John Vianney, and make him the patron saint of all priests, In Canada over a
hundred years ago a humble young man was allowed to become a Holy Cross brother
over the objection of some of his superiors. His learning and education was so
deficient that he was assigned to be the doorman of the monastery. A few years
ago he was canonized as St. Andre Besette, the only member of the Holy Cross
order ever to be canonized.

We are not all meant to be
mystics or canonized saints but we all have our own vocation--

what Peter calls a royal
priesthood. It is the same vocation as those early deacons, a life of service
to our neighbor.